On May 10 and 11, 2011, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo met respectively with some U.S. lawmakers in Washington, including Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, during his visit to the U.S. in January, has reached important consensus with U.S. President Barack Obama on building a cooperative partnership based upon mutual respect and mutual benefit, said Dai. He said this consensus not only reflects the current status of the two countries' relations, but also points out the direction of their future development. The engagement by U.S. congress is indispensable to the development of China-U.S. relations, he said. He welcomed the friends from the U.S. congress to play a bigger constructive role in building a cooperative partnership between China and the U.S., expressing his congratulation on the establishment of the U.S.-China working group in the U.S. Senate.

The third-round China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which just concluded, is helpful for both parties to enhance understanding, expand consensus and strengthen cooperation, Dai said. China and the U.S. both believe that the two countries have become indispensable cooperative partners at bilateral, multilateral and global levels, he said. A lot can be done to strengthen China-U.S. cooperation, and both sides should work on overcoming obstacles during the process, said Dai.

The U.S. lawmakers who attended the meeting commented positively on the outcomes of the third-round China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, adding that the U.S. congress puts great emphasis on developing relations with China. The senators said both countries should deepen the cooperative partnership through communication and coordination on international and regional issues.

On May 10, State Councilor Dai attended a dinner joined by prominent former U.S. politicians and heads of U.S. think-tanks. During the dinner, Dai exchanged ideas intensively with former U.S. State Secretary Dr. Henry Kissinger on how to deepen the China-U.S. cooperative partnership and strengthen the strategic mutual trust.